Ilkley Baptist

Different denominations are at different stages in debating the replacement of Trident, but it looks clear that all will oppose it. The Baptist Union Council, meeting earlier this month, voted by a heartfelt and clear majority to call on the government not to replace Trident, but to take a lead in disarmament negotiations.

This is a subject on which the churches are in strong agreement. The Labour Party, on the other hand, together with the Conservative Party, is in favour of replacing Trident. So this is a subject on which the views of the Christian churches are significantly different from those of secular politicians. What a great opportunity for wider public debate and an expression of Christian viewpoints.

I wonder, though, how aware local churches are that this is going on.

The chimney sweep came round this week. As a child I was always banished. I'd see the man arrive and set up with his grubby cloths round the fireplace and his vacuum cleaner ready. Later, I'd hear little noises then the whine of the vac. I remember being disappointed that there was no sign of a brush like in Mary Poppins.

Well, now I'm grown up I can stay and watch. And there is a brush! And it came out the top of the chimney! Just like Mary Poppins. There's something so romantic and right about a man who is a chimney sweep, a job that's been around for decades and will probably see him out. Strange, chatting with him, to discover that in the slack time of year (which is March, strangely) he likes to go skiing.

On Wednesday the local ministers come to me for lunch. We meet every week. We pray for up to half an hour, then eat and chat and josh each other for another thirty minutes. Lunch is mainly soup, so I'll be buying some veg tomorrow, and also some good bread, a bit of cheese, some fruit and maybe some small cakes.

The mix of prayer and lunch interests me. I think it's extremely important. If we just met for lunch, that would be good and useful. Good relationships are invaluable, and there is always a bit of business to do, a joint service to prepare or some resources to share. But the prayer bit - it's tricky. We pray in different ways, because we vary from Catholic to Pentecostal, High Church to Baptist. We pray in different ways because we are very different people in our aptitudes and sensibilities. It would be much more efficient to each pray in our own way (as if we would!) and then come together for lunch and conversation, but we don't. We grapple with this prayer thing, try different ways of doing it, fail, do it badly, and try again, because it we know it matters. In prayer we meet as we do not meet even over the table. We meet, not every time, but from time to time, at our deepest. We sense each other's faith. We hear of each other's need. And as we struggle to find ways to be together in prayer, we are aware of each other's dependence on God. And that is what makes us colleagues. And what we do together counts.

Carrot and spring greens this week, I think.